Angels Fall First
by Demagnetize
Summary: Life isn't fair. Deal with it. Kira is beginning to realise that caring for pokémon isn't all sunshine and rainbows as her life is taking a more serious turn. (Chapter 8 up)
1. Meetings

**Angels Fall First. **

_Chapter 1: Meetings_

_Disclaimer- _I don't own pokémon. Nor do I own the title of this fic since it was taken from Nightwish's album.

This is my first attempt at writing pokémon fanfiction, so bear with me please. :)

oooooooooo

Have you ever felt so nervous you thought you might faint?

That's exactly how seventeen year old Kira felt as she sat in the lecture theatre of her college waiting for her name to be called.

Carefully throwing a glance around at the other assembled students, she noticed she wasn't the only anxious one. Several people were fiddling with their bags or shifting about in their seats.

Though it was hardly surprising. This was THE day. The day they'd all been dreaming about.

And Kira was scared shitless.

A good few years ago someone had finally noticed that sending uneducated, untrained ten year olds off into the wilderness with nothing but their pokémon for protection, was asking for trouble. Too often kids got hurt or lost. It was always in the news how some young ambitious trainer and his poliwag had been mauled by a wild donphan he'd stupidly tried to catch.

So they'd decided trainers needed to earn their licence by passing certain exams. After going to regular school until you were sixteen you were then able to take a few courses at collages, one of which being a pokémon training course.

After the first year, if you pass that is, you receive your first pokémon. The second year is then spent learning how to handle it and practicing battle techniques. If you pass the final exams then you are a qualified trainer and can depart on a journey of your own.

Gathered in this hall were all the trainers who had passed their first year with a C or above. And on the stage at the front was a huge crate filled with shiny red and white pokéballs.

The headmaster, a rather short and ugly little man, was calling students up one by one to select their pokémon.

The boy on the stage currently, stared at the selection of pokéballs before dipping his hand in and grabbing one. He hesitated then called the creature out to see what he'd gotten. It was a meowth and he seemed fairly pleased with the selection.

"Kira Airstryke," the Headmasters voice boomed, and she flinched realising it was her turn. Shakily she stood up and tucking a few stray strands of ebony hair behind her ear, made her way down to the front of the vast room.

Well aware that all eyes were on her she felt her heartbeat pick up rapidly.

If there was one thing Kira hated it was being the centre of attention. Trying to look casual, she stepped up onto the stage and observed the many pokéballs. They'd been informed that none of the pokémon had been trained at all and all were at the lowest evolutionary level, so no one would end up with a level eighty dragonite or anything. But it was a totally random selection. She could get a magikarp or even a chansey. It was just whatever the schools suppliers had been able to capture.

Closing her eyes briefly she prayed to whatever Deity cared to listen that she'd get something decent. Reaching in, she grasped a pokéball and opened it. She was met with a peal of laughter from the other students as she looked down at the small canine pokémon beside her. It was a houndour, a dark type pokémon.

"Well that sure suits little Miss Goth-ness!" a boy yelled from somewhere near the back while another kid lobbed a balled up piece of paper at her head. It bounced off her shoulder harmlessly, but she felt tears prickling all the same.

She was constantly harassed about the way she acted and dressed, never keeping up with the trends and fashions like the other students.

She was aware of the Headmaster yelling about detention to the culprits and looked down at her new pokémon who seemed completely uninterested in anything that was going on.

With a shaky sigh she recalled the little fire dog and hurried back to her seat, willing the rest of the assembly to hurry up.

oooooooooo

Closing and locking the door to her room once she got home, she tossed her bag to the floor and carefully pulled the precious pokéball from her coat pocket. Draping the ankle length leather coat across her bed, she sat next to it and simply examined the pokéball for a moment.

She'd waited to have a pokémon her entire life, and now she had one she was determined to make the most of it. Pushing the button to release her new creature, she watched as he materialised on the floor in front of her.

"Uh… Hey," she greeted him unsurely, offering a small wave. He looked at her blankly for a second before sitting down and ignoring her.

She frowned uneasily. Great, it didn't like her?

"I'm Kira, your new trainer. Aren't you gonna say hello?" she prompted.

He looked at her again and seemed to roll his eyes before muttering "Hello."

She smiled slightly, glad now that she'd done so well in learning pokéspeak. She'd been worried about trying to translate the real thing.

"See, was that so hard?" she joked weakly, trying to shift the uncomfortable atmosphere that had settled over the pair.

He responded by growling softly, "Look, I have no desire to 'belong' to a human and do as you say. Frankly I don't like you or the idea of training at all, got it?"

Slightly taken aback she felt her eyes beginning to water again. She didn't want to cry. Hadn't cried since that day so long ago. But everything was looking so hopeless.

The orphanage she lived in had refused to pay the 2000 payment required for her to get a pokémon from the academy, so she'd worked her butt off being a part time waitress in a crummy little café down the road.

She'd gotten the money together just in time… but now the pokémon she'd worked so hard to get didn't want anything to do with her.

"Of course not, why should you like me? No one else does." She muttered to herself quietly, trying to keep the tears at bay.

The houndour heard her quiet words and felt mildly guilty, though he'd intended to upset her.

"Look, Kid it's nothing personal. I just can't stand the way humans use pokémon as tools. I was taken from my pack when I was captured, taken away from the only family I knew without a second thought." The pokémon confessed awkwardly.

Kira's jade eyes flashed with emotion as she looked at him abruptly. "That's horrible! And I hate people like that with a passion. Pokémon aren't accessories, they're living creatures and should be treated as friends, partners."

She stood up and began pacing back and forth. "Only problem is, if I took you back to the Professors to demand you get released back into the wild, I know they'd just put you in storage for some student next year. And that'd leave me without a pokémon and you in no better of a situation."

He was watching her with interest. Did she really mean she'd give up her first pokémon just to make it happy? Maybe all humans weren't so bad.

She stopped pacing and looked at him warily. "The only thing I can think of to suit us both would be that you stay and train with me for this year… and then when I leave next year we can head for your old home and you can go back to your old life." She wasn't sure how he'd take the suggestion and nervously tugged at her fingerless black gloves.

The houndour considered it for a while, trying to think of an alternative way out. He couldn't.

"Fine." He nodded his head once. "That is the only agreeable route of action. But I refuse to be treated like a slave." He added stubbornly.

Kira nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, but in order for me to get my training licence I need to pass... So you're gonna have to help me out a little. Ignoring commands in battle and things won't help either of us."

He sighed, but didn't disagree. "If I think you're making a mistake in battle though don't expect me to just do as you say."

She smiled and nodded again. Maybe they could actually get along. "So, do you have a name? I feel awkward just referring to you as Houndour."

"My pack called me Bleak." He tilted his head, somewhat pleased she'd bothered to ask. It was another of his pet hates to see people referring to pokémon by their species names.

"Bleak? That's nice. It suits you." She paused, "Oh and about earlier in the hall… They weren't laughing at you. It's just that you're a dark type pokémon and everyone's always picking on me about my own dark looks. So it was just a coincidence that we ended up as partners but they found humour in it apparently." Her voice sounded a little bitter and she sat back down on her bed.

"Why do you have metal in your ears?" He suddenly asked out of the blue.

Kira grinned slightly running a finger over the multiple piercings in her ears. "Just for decoration. I like 'em."

"Me too, they suit you. Can pokémon get them?" Bleak asked curiously. He wondered what his brothers would say if they saw him with cool metal bits in his ears.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "You want your ears pierced? Well… I suppose there's probably a pokémon cruelty law against it or something. But we can find out if you want. The place I get mine done is only a short walk from here, and the guy is really nice. Wanna go check it out?"

He hesitated. Pokémon cruelty law? "Does it hurt then?" Not that he was scared of course. Nope. Not at all.

"Not really. It stings a bit and your ears go really hot, but other than that it's fine. C'mon lets go see Lenard, and find out if you can even get it done." She grabbed her coat, her boots still being on from when she got in from college. "You wanna walk, or…?" She held up the pokéball.

"Walk." Bleak said quickly. "I grew up in the wild... meadows and forests and all that. It makes me feel too restricted."

Kira nodded her head in understanding. She was claustrophobic herself, so she knew what he meant.

oooooooooo

They walked to the service counter of the little shop and Kira hit the bell.

After a few minutes a guy with sandy coloured hair who looked about 22 appeared in the doorway leading to the back. "Kira! Good to see you, tongue not giving you trouble I hope?"

She grinned back at him. "Hey Len. Nah that's fully healed now, eating properly and everything. I'm just here to ask you something actually." She glanced down at Bleak and tapped the counter. He took the hint and leapt lightly up. "What're the laws on piercing pokémon's ears?"

Lenard's eyes widened slightly. "You finally got a pokémon? Way to go! As far as I know, as long as the pokémon consents then it's legal. I've seen a few Raticate with it done before." He looked down at Bleak. "You wanna get you're ears done?"

The houndour nodded warily, not sure what to expect.

"Hmm… What d'you think? Two silver hoops in the left ear?" Len asked whilst studying the little fire dog.

Kira and Bleak glanced at each other and nodded. "I think that'd look good. Uh… one question though. Houndoom's have no ears…so what happens if he ever evolves?"

Len grinned "The hoops'll just drop out if that happens. In no way can it harm him so don't worry."

"Okay then, let's do this." Bleak said, wanting to get it over with before he chickened out.

oooooooooo

Fifteen minutes later the pair were on their way home, Bleak walking a little taller than usual, with twin shiny silver hoops in his ear. Len had given them a good tip. Potion heals all small wounds on pokémon, so one dose of that and the piercings were as good as if they'd been in his whole life. No care required.

It was getting dark already, what with it being nearly winter, and they hurried home. Kira didn't live in the best parts of the little town, and she didn't want to run into trouble. Getting in safely, she grabbed some sandwiches and managed to avoid the other kids as she headed back to her room.

"You look good, Bleak." She smiled and offered him some pokémon food. She felt like maybe they'd bonded a little now. The awkwardness seemed to have faded, at any rate.

That night he curled up on the floor beneath her desk to sleep and she figured that maybe this pokémon training thing wouldn't be so difficult after all. As long as she didn't get too attached to him that is. She was going to dread the day she had to release him back to the wild. At least she'd have him for a year or so.

oooooooooo

Please review. :)


	2. Commotion

**Angels Fall First. **

_Yay, I got a review! Thank you, it means a lot to me to know someone read this. Feel free to use the name Bleak if you like it. And go for it with the quilava, that'd be cool! _

_**Chapter 2: Commotion **_

**

* * *

**

When Kira awoke the next morning, she found that Bleak was already up. He was sitting on the window ledge staring out of the glass.  
He didn't even look at her, but seemed to know she was awake. "You have a big family here." He stated, glancing her way. "I caught about twelve different scents passing down the hallway."

She stifled a yawn and nodded. "There are a lot of people here but we aren't family. This is a place for people who _have_ no family. Personally, I can't wait to get out of here."

Bleak didn't answer, nor press for more details on why she was here, so she got ready for another day in hell… err…college.

* * *

Things went pretty smoothly for the next few weeks. Kira and Bleak grew a little closer, and he even grudgingly admitted she seemed to know a lot about pokémon. Which she attributed to her spending a hell of a lot of time studying.

Of course there had been the customary murmurings and looks when Bleak had shown up with his ear pierced, but they had lived through it.

They were walking out of Kira's pokémon knowledge class one afternoon and she was shoving her books back into her backpack. They'd been trying to memorise every pokémon and some facts about them recently and there'd be a test on it soon. It wasn't too hard, apart from the fact you had to remember every pokémon's pokédex number. That wasn't so easy.

Bleak growled low in his throat, making Kira look up. One of the more popular girls, Jenette was approaching, flanked by the usual flock of wannabe's.  
"Hey, Freak! I'm in the mood for wiping the floor with you. Let's battle." She demanded, loudly, hoping to attract a crowd.

Kira sighed in irritation. Pokémon battles were not allowed on school property, unless supervised by a teacher. And she didn't want to get into trouble… again. She'd been caught battling twice already. Once more and she'd be suspended, and she had a feeling Jenette knew this.  
"Sorry, I have class." She mumbled, pushing her way through the gathering crowd, Bleak still rumbling warningly to help clear the way.

"Aw, little miss gloomy is sacred!" Jenette taunted, earning a laugh from the crowd.

Kira halted, gritting her teeth as she spun to face the annoying girl. "I am _not_ scared. I just want to save you the humiliation of losing to me."

Bleak rolled his eyes. They were going to get suspended, he just knew it.

"So prove it!" Jenette smirked, holding up a pokéball. "You and me, right now!"

"Fine!" Kira yelled, realising belatedly that she'd been coaxed into this. "But outside."

After a few insults were thrown back and forth, it was agreed that they would hold the match round he back of the school where they were less likely to get caught.

* * *

Jenette threw her pokéball to the paved slabs at her feet, the little sphere opening to reveal a snobby looking skitty. It hissed softly at Bleak who stepped forward to take his place in the makeshift arena.

Kira smirked, liking the odds of this. If there was a time when she ever felt confident it was during a pokémon battle.

"You think your little kitten can beat my hell hound?" she taunted, "Bleak, leer!"

The houndour narrowed his eyes, a glint of something scary flashed across them and the skitty twitched looking nervous.

"Rrr… Skitty, use tackle!" Jenette yelled, and bravely, the little cat like pokémon charged forward and smashed its shoulder against the slightly larger houndour.

Bleak stumbled back a step but was far from out. It was his instincts to just attack, but knew it would look better for Kira if he were to wait for her commands. He didn't have to wait long.

"Ember!" Kira said excitedly and Bleak had to hide a smile. It was weird how much she seemed to love battling and her enthusiasm was contagious. He raised his head before opening his mouth to let loose a mouthful of small but incredibly hot flames.

The surrounding crowd cheered a bit at the fire attack, enjoying seeing something a little more visually exciting.

The skitty staggered back from the attack, shuddering slightly as she fell to the ground only to push herself back to her feet. To both Kira's and Bleak's surprise, she seemed to have been burned. That added effect had never managed to take place before and they shared a pleased glance.

"Oh no, Skitty! Try and send it to sleep with sing!" Jenette demanded desperately, and Skitty obeyed. She began mewling in a soft, soothing melody that was really quite beautiful.

Seeing that Bleak was getting drowsy, Kira had to think fast. If he fell asleep it was as good as over. "Use roar, quickly!" she urged, and Bleak shook his head trying to clear it. Taking a deep breath, he let loose a blood curdling roar, which seemed to scare the skitty (and some of the crowd) half to death and quickly put an end to her little lullaby. In fact she scampered backwards and cowered behind her trainer.

Jenette sighed looking exasperated. "You can't just quit, you're my only pokémon. Now get back out there and use doubleslap!" she ordered. Trembling slightly and limping from the burn, the little pokémon stepped forward once more.

Kira thought for sure that Jenette would have given up by now… her pokémon was not in much of a state to continue after all. The little kitten pokémon started slapping Bleak round the face with her clumpy tail. He growled, back stepping away from her but unable to avoid the hits that were raining down on him.

"Bite it!" Kira suggested, not entirely sure if that would work. She hadn't given much thought to Bleak's dark half, since they'd been working on his fire moves recently. Still, he attempted to sink his teeth into that frustrating tail, but they closed on thin air.

"Keep trying!" Kira encouraged and this time he made contact, effectively stopping the skitty's onslaught. He lifted her up by the tail he still held and threw her against the ground where she lay panting, too exhausted to get up.

"Yes! Nice work Bleak!" Kira cheered as Jenette miserably recalled her pokémon.

"You just got lucky, freak. Next time we'll show you how it's really done." Jenette muttered stalking off indignantly, most of the crowd following her and praising her on a good battle.

Annoying and down heartening as it was, no one stayed to congratulate the unpopular winners.

Kira sighed and crouched down, rubbing Bleak behind the ears. "Well _I_ think we did brilliantly."

Bleak nodded his agreement, "It was a good match. Too bad those losers don't know how to treat the victors." He sighed and rubbed his head against his trainer's hand, enjoying the attention she was giving him. Not that he'd ever admit he liked being petted.

* * *

Christmas came and went, being as uneventful and boring as it was every year for the young Goth. It was made slightly better this year by Bleak being around, and she was given the usual horrendous woolly jumper and a selection box of chocolates by the orphanage, but nothing worthwhile happened.

Bleak gave her a pretty flower, which was sweet of him really. For her part, she'd purchased a repeat ball, which she personally favoured over the standard pokéball in terms of appearance. Bleak seemed to like it too, thankfully, so she transferred him over to that one. Besides, it let out cool green sparkles when it opened.

Once Christmas was over it was the first bout of exams for the students at the academy. All week Kira had been sitting the stupid tests and she felt like her brain might explode.

Most of the exams were written ones, but there were a few that tested battling skills too, which were a nice break from sitting in silence.

Towards the end of the second week of exams something happened. All the lights and electricity in the academy flickered then went off. There was a combination of screams and cheers from the surprised students as everyone started rushing to get outside into the daylight. Teachers were desperately trying to regain control of the startled teenagers, to no avail.

Kira and Bleak were on the lowest floor so there were no windows since it was underground. They were all plunged into intense darkness.

"The generator must have gone down." Kira mused quietly, like everyone else, ignoring her teachers strained voice. "C'mon, let's go and see what's happening."

In truth, she was essentially blinded by the lack of light, but Bleak could see well enough in the dark to guide her. Quickly removing her belt, she slipped one end around Bleak's neck like a noose, and kept hold of the other so he could lead her about.

She stumbled over quite a few chairs and tables, and nearly tripped three times whilst making her way up the crowded stairs, but soon they reached the second floor which was much more deserted by now. There was a little sunlight coming through the classroom doors up here so she released Bleak from his 'leash'.

There was a lot of commotion in one of the ICT labs that she had to pass and she paused to look through the window.

It seemed that maybe this room was the problem and not the generator after all.

Cautiously, she pushed the door open, Bleak following her in at her heels.

"What's going on?" She asked, spotting her favourite teacher, the pokémon science professor. He was leaning over what looked like… A body!

A couple of the other teachers in the room turned to look at her as well, and she felt herself blush under the sudden attention.

"Kira? You shouldn't be in here. Go outside with the others." Professor Redwood, who was normally really nice to her, seemed a little snappy and sounded tired.

"But… what happened to him?" She asked, gesturing to the limp form on the floor. It appeared to be the P.E. teacher.

Redwood looked like he was about to answer, when one of the other teachers yelled out, "Shit, there he is!"

Both Kira and Bleak tensed, expecting some kind of villainous man to come running out with a knife or something, but what they saw was shocking…

* * *

Please review. :) 


	3. Past

**Angels Fall First. **

_Chapter 3: Past_

* * *

_Redwood looked like he was about to answer, when one of the other teachers yelled out, "Shit, there he is!"_

_Both Kira and Bleak tensed, expecting some kind of villainous man to come running out with a knife or something, but what they saw was shocking…

* * *

_

Literally shocking… All that stood there was a little Pichu, its cheeks sparking brightly in the semi-darkness.

"_That's_ the problem?" Kira asked disbelievingly, glancing at Bleak who seemed to share her doubt.

"Don't make any sudden moves…" Professor Redwood murmured softly, and everyone in the room froze. "It might not look like much but it took down Pete here with one thundershock. It obviously has an abnormally high voltage."

As they watched the Pichu sized them up and seemed to decide they weren't really a threat. He hopped happily over to an empty plug socket and shoved his little paw into one of the holes.

Since the electricity was off, nothing happened and he seemed upset, quickly tugging the plug from the next socket and repeating the process.

"What's it doing?" Kira asked quietly, watching the tiny mouse move around the room.

"We had to shut the academy's power off… He's been doing that for hours. He is somehow drawing power from the sockets instead of just getting fried like he should have been." One of the professors spoke up. The P.E teacher groaned from his place on the floor as he slowly regained consciousness.

"We think it might have the volt absorb ability… but that seems highly unlikely since this species normally have static. Although it paralysed two of our pokémon on contact, so it probably _does_ have static." Redwood trailed off, obviously confused.

"Is it possible for a pokémon to have two abilities?" Kira asked unsurely. She'd never heard of it before.

"This would appear to be living proof for that theory." Someone muttered grumpily.

Giving up on the sockets, the Pichu pouted and turned to face his audience.

"We have to get it out of here, it's not safe for the students," the Maths teacher pointed out as she crept closer to the little pokémon. It apparently panicked and let loose a burst of electricity which caused the woman to fall to the floor before twitching and laying still.

"We'll have to call the RSPCP. (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pokémon ;D) They deal with things like this all the time. I'm sure they can catch it and have it humanely put down."

Kira's eyes widened slightly. "You've got to be joking. You can't just kill it because it's too powerful!"

"Unfortunately Kira, it has too much power to be around people. It's an unnecessary danger, especially in a school." Redwood sighed, also not too happy with the prospect, but he knew it was for the best.

Kira had vowed never to own an electric pokémon, since she despised and feared them with a passion. But even so, she couldn't bear the thought of him dying for no real reason. So she spoke up.

"What if I were to capture it? I could keep it away from people… and once it's inside a pokéball it's no longer a threat, right?" she suggested, not sure if she wanted them to agree or not.

They discussed this for a few minutes, keeping a wary eye upon the pokémon in question, who seemed amused by the larger animals who kept pointing at him.

Eventually it was agreed that it was worth a try and everyone moved back to give Kira a little more room.

Bleak edged slowly closer to the sparking pokémon, not really sure if he wanted his temporary trainer to own something this dangerous.

"Okay, Bleak. Now remember that physical attacks will most likely just get you paralyzed. So let's try an ember!" Kira urged, a little nervously. Bleak immediately shot a burst of small flames at the startled pokémon, catching it somewhat off guard.

The Pichu whimpered and sat down to promptly start crying. It had scorch marks on its fur in places but didn't seem too badly hurt. The more it cried, the more his cheeks were letting out electricity, greatly unnerving everyone present.

"Just throw a ball!" Someone instructed, and Kira nodded, clutching the red and white contraption in her hand. She lobbed it at the Pichu and it bounced off his head, opened and pulled him inside.

Everyone watched with bated breath as the ball shook a few times, the red indicator refusing to go out. It suddenly went still but the indicator seemed to get brighter instead of dimming. Sparks started jumping around the pokéball and with a high pitched whining noise the contraption exploded violently!

Shards of the pokéball ricocheted off the walls as everyone covered their eyes. Kira was aware of a piece cutting her cheek, but was focusing more on the now rather dazed looking Pichu who was wobbling in the middle of the room.

"Kira!" Professor Redwood called, and tossed her an ultraball. Usually she would have never accepted one of the expensive devices from someone, but now really wasn't the time for politeness.

Once again, she threw the ball at the pokémon, but this time it only shook twice before the light went out.

There was a collective sigh of relief, and then everyone started talking at once. Kira and Bleak ignored them and walked over to their newly captured team mate. Kira lightly touched the ultraball with the steel tipped toe of her combat boot, before picking it up, satisfied that it wasn't going to explode.

"Well that was dramatic." Bleak muttered, glancing up at Kira. "Hey, you're bleeding a little." He stood up on his hind legs, leaning his paws against her knees so he could see the cut on her face a little better.

She absently pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped the drizzle of blood from her cheek. "It's nothing, see? Just a scratch from that exploding pokéball."

"Kira, well done for catching it." Professor Redwood congratulated her as he came over to where they were standing. The rest of the teachers seemed to remember that they had classfulls of students who were probably running wild right about now and quickly departed to deal with them.

"I have to admit, I'm intensely curious about that little guy. If he truly has two abilities then he may be a great discovery. I'm thrilled he won't have to be put down." He said, looking excited at the prospect of digging deeper into this. "Would you mind terribly if I kept him in the lab for a couple of days? I'd love to run some tests on his abilities, as well as try and get a solid reading on his voltage…"

He looked so hopeful that there was no way she could have said no if she wanted to.

"Eh, sure. Just be careful. You saw what it can do, and I'm sure you don't want to get fried." She smirked, passing the ball to her teacher as he grinned back.

"Will do, Kira my girl. You are looking at one extremely cautious professor."

* * *

Later that day Kira was sitting on her bed tugging off her boots, when she realised that she now had two pokémon. So when Bleak left her, she'd still have that Pichu.

She shifted uncomfortably at the thought of that. How was she going to deal with raising an electric type when she was terrified of them?

She and Bleak never really spoke about when he was going to leave her. They both knew the time would come eventually, but it wasn't something they discussed in depth. At first it had seemed easy. But now they'd actually become friends. She didn't want to loose him but she would do what was right. Sometimes it sucked having morals.

Speaking of Bleak… She grabbed the nicely coloured repeat ball that was on the bed next to her and held it up, releasing her pokémon in a flash of light. And green sparkles.

He stretched languidly before smiling at her. "Thanks."

She winked at him as she stood up, glancing in the mirror on her way. She paused to look at her reflection, surprised at how much more confident she appeared now that she was a trainer of sorts.

Her grey-green eyes seemed to sparkle more than she remembered them ever doing before. Maybe it was because she felt like she had a real friend now because of Bleak.

She glanced at her hair and sighed softly. It always reminded her of her parents. Kira's hair was mostly jet black, but the front couple of inches were a beautiful forest green colour. Her mother had had hair that was the exact shade of green, and her father had sported black hair himself. It was unusual to get such a mixture of colours, and something Kira had been teased about at school, but she rather liked the look regardless.

Bleak, ever observant, had picked up on her wistful expression. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

She looked round at him, finding him sitting in the space on her bed that she'd just vacated.

"It's nothing really." She assured him, sitting on the computer chair. "I was just thinking about my parents."

He knew she didn't have any family, but he'd never asked why. He didn't like to pry into peoples lives too much, but he thought maybe now she was ready to talk to him about it.

"What happened to them?" he asked gently, mildly surprised that he actually cared enough to ask.

Kira hesitated, and looked down at the floor, her delicate hands curling into fists.

"They were murdered." She sighed and met Bleak's gaze, smiling weakly at him. "It happened when I was four years old. These men broke into our home and just killed them."

Bleak felt the need to say something, but stayed quiet knowing she probably needed to say this all at once.

Her voice held a far away tone, and her eyes seemed to be staring at something only she could see.

"I remember it so clearly. Which is kind of weird considering I was so young. There were five of them. I was drawing pictures with my dad at the table whilst my mom was singing and dusting the shelves. We were so happy." She took a deep breath, not wanting to cry, but it was so hard talking about all this.

"They burst in through the front door and shot my dad in the head." She could clearly remember the blood splattering across the picture she had been drawing and shuddered visibly. "My mom was screaming and trying to protect me but they just shot her too. I remember her screams suddenly stopping after the gunshot and everything was so quiet."

She was crying now, the tears slipping miserably from her eyes. Bleak hopped down off the bed and jumped onto her lap to soothingly lick the tears from her face in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the fur on his neck, his presence giving her the strength to continue.

"It was so quiet, the men weren't speaking and I hid under the table. I thought they were going to kill me too and I just wanted my dad to get up and make them go away. They didn't kill me, obviously. There was some discussion, maybe they didn't expect a kid to be there or something, I can't remember. Anyway, they dragged me out of there kicking and screaming, and shoved me into the back of a van."

Her fingers tightened in Bleak's fur.

"I found out later that it was Team Rocket. They kept me there as a slave, making me sort out their pokémon's food and run errands and take messages back and forth. When I was eight they started taking me out on pokémon catching sessions, getting me and a couple of the other slaves they had there to carry the sacks of pokéballs and bait 'n' stuff.

"It was when I was ten and they got me my first Rocket uniform that I decided I had to get away no matter what. I knew what sort of grisly tasks the full blown Rocket's had to do, and I didn't want to live my life that way.

"It took a lot of failed attempts and punishments before I managed to escape, but I did it. I spent about six months on the street after that, too afraid to go to the police. Eventually I was caught stealing and then I had no choice but to tell the cops everything. They found the base I was talking about shut it down. I knew it was only one of many though. They sent me out here and I started school.

"Not many people know about all this, just the woman who runs this place, my head teacher and Professor Redwood. And now you." She finished softly, wiping her eyes on her sleeve and looking at Bleak for a reaction.

He looked sympathetic and also a little angry that all this had happened to her. "I'm glad you told me. And I'm sorry… I had no idea you'd been through so much."

Kira placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, feeling something of a weight lifted from her heart at sharing her past with him.

That night he curled up next to her on her bed to sleep and she had the first truly peaceful night in a long time.

* * *

Please review. :) 


	4. Whiplash

**Angels Fall First. **

_Chapter 4: Whiplash

* * *

_

It was kind of cute, she'd give him that.

Kira was currently perched rigidly in a chair in Professor Redwood's lab. She was sitting as far away from the desk as was possible without being too noticeable. Upon said desk sat her Pichu.

She and Bleak had come down to visit their newly captured team mate to see what the Professor had learned about him. Unfortunately, the little creature had been happy to recognise the ones who had captured him (and probably saved him from the untimely death he'd heard the humans talking about) and his cheeks sparked brightly to show that.

Which terrified Kira.

Bleak threw her a look which clearly said, 'You're gonna have to get over this irrational fear of yours.' But he didn't understand what it stemmed from.

Back when she'd been with Team Rocket, punishment for _anything_ would be varying lengths of 'playtime' with the group leader's Electabuzz. He'd usually paralyze you, then kick the crap out of you whilst slowly electrocuting you to death.

It was usually enough to keep her from misbehaving, and that was saying something.

Professor Redwood was rambling on about what an amazing discovery dual abilities were, so she was trying to focus on him instead.

"It turns out that he's actually very young," he went on to explain, "Although he won't talk to me. I can't get him to relax for some reason, maybe he doesn't trust me." He sounded a little chagrined about that, but continued anyway.

"His voltage readings are off the charts, it's incredible! This little pokémon has roughly the same level of electricity as it's fully evolved counterparts."

Kira shared a look with Bleak trying to work out if that was a good thing or not. She decided it was probably not.

"Unfortunately, this means that if Pichu ever evolved fully, then his voltage would be at uncontrollably lethal levels." He sighed, looking at the little pokémon in question. "This means, Kira that I'm going to have to ask you not to ever let it evolve. Not even into his Pikachu stage. It's unfortunate, since as a battling pokémon Pichu's generally don't last long in the battlefield.  
His special attack is obviously very high due to the amount of sheer power his abilities allow him to have… But being a pre-evolution his defence leaves an awful lot to be desired."

Kira nodded. So basically she'd got a pokémon she was scared to go near, who would probably faint with one hit in a battle. And who she could never evolve to try and make it stronger. Fantastic.

She sighed softly and studied the little creature. He was very small, probably only about seven or eight inches tall minus the black-edged ears. The pale, silky yellow fur that covered his small form looked inviting to touch, but Kira knew she'd probably never dare. He had an odd little tuft of hair on his forehead, giving him a rascal-ish appearance.

Add that to the rosy pinky-red cheeks and you had one adorable pokémon.

The professor handed her a pair of thick red rubber gloves. "You can pick him up if you want. His static seems to zap anyone who touches him, but with the gloves on you should be okay. I'll be back in a moment." He smiled and slipped out of the room, on his way to get something.

The door clicked shut, leaving Kira alone in the room with her two pokémon for the first time. She tugged the gloves on, more as a precaution than from an actual want to touch the thing.

"Boy am I glad to see you! I was beginning to think I'd be a lab rat for the rest of my life!" The Pichu surprised them both by being the first to speak.

"I thought you didn't speak?" Kira asked warily.

He grinned, either not picking up on her fear or simply ignoring it.

"Nah, I didn't speak to _him_ 'cause he kept prodding me and making me zap things and asking me questions and never ever ever letting me get more 'lectric from the power creating holes of wonder on the wall!" The mouse-like thing was hopping up and down excitedly as he talked.

Kira raised an eyebrow and looked at Bleak. So he didn't talk but now he wouldn't shut up?

"But since you're my trainer and you're gonna be raisin' me and we're gonna travel the world together an' maybe even one day we can find Zapdos and I can beat him, 'cause my brother always said I could never beat a legendary but he never had my volt absorb thingy and he was never any good at battling since he got captured by a boy and his pidgey three weeks before I did, so what does he know?"

He blinked at them, as if waiting for them to confirm that he was better than the brother they'd never met. Unfortunately they were both still trying to follow the rather rapid and disorganised train of thought he'd just shared.

"So I don't mind talking to you 'cause I know that you caught me fair and square, though technically it's fair and circle since an ultraball is round but people never change the old phrases to match the situations that they're being used in which is kinda dumb if you ask me."

They didn't ask him, and Kira was starting to get a headache. Was he always this hyperactive?

Deciding she'd better say something before he started up again, she figured introducing themselves would be a good start.

"Er… I'm Kira, and this is Bleak." She gestured to the dog-like pokémon at her side. "Do you have a name?" 'Or should we just call you the chattering mouse of doom?' she added silently.

"Oh yeah! Duh, how could I have not told you my name? My mommy was brilliant at givin' us names even though there were six of us all together but she never had trouble thinking up good ones for us 'cause she said each of us was special in our own way." He actually paused for breath, which Kira was thankful for. She'd been worried he might explode if he didn't slow down.

"'Cause I'm really speedy, 'specially when I absorb some of the 'lectric from the others, plus my mommy said I talk too fast which is something I gotta learn to fix, 'cause I think it bugs people." He seemed to loose where he was going with this and Bleak prompted him.

"So she called you…?" He asked with a barely concealed sigh of annoyance. That mouse thought talking fast was annoying? Wherever did he get _that_ idea?

Completely unperturbed the Pichu carried on. "Well she said that since I moved around at breakneck speeds and stuffs that Whiplash was a good name for me which I didn't like at first 'cause I thought whiplash was something to do with breaking your neck and blood going everywhere, but now I like it and it's me." He smiled, cheeks sparking happily.

"Right," Kira sighed, glad they'd finally gotten that sorted. "So your name's Whiplash. Well that's not too bad. I'd have probably come up with something lame and overused like Sparks or something."

The slight feeling of ease that had settled over her abruptly vanished as the newly pronounced Whiplash suddenly leapt onto her knee, where he sat twitching slightly with suppressed energy.

He looked hurt that Kira flinched dramatically and Bleak immediately raised his hackles in warning.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you. Is it 'cause I shocked those adults? I won't shock you like that, no no, never you. Sometimes I can't control the 'lectric and it sparks out on its own, but I'll try real hard I swear."

Kira nodded stiffly and tried to smile. He was only a little kid, she reasoned so it wasn't fair to let her fears get the best of her.

"It's okay… I know you won't shock me," She lied. Hell, she even risked touching the fluff on his head although she obviously couldn't feel it through the bulky gloves.

That was how Professor Redwood found them when he returned, and he smiled at the sight.

He held up one hand which had something dangling from it.

"This is a piece of everstone, it'll keep him from evolving." He passed it to his student who looked at it curiously.

It was a thick black leather cord upon which was hung a small star-shaped piece of grey stone.

"Thank you. You provided the ultraball which I caught him with, and now you're giving us a piece of everstone? I seriously owe you big time." She grinned up at him from her seated position.

"Think nothing of it. Although there _is_ one thing you could do for me." He added looking a little sheepish. "When you leave here a fully qualified trainer, could you register me as the one who'll watch over your pokémon? I know you'll capture loads and I have such a huge expanse of land at home it seems a shame to waste it."

Kira grinned, thrilled with the prospect. She and Redwood had had discussions on numerous occasions about how the pokémon the academy looked after tended to be kept inside their pokéballs whenever possible. It seemed cruel but with so many trainers leaving that place they had precious little room to keep the pokémon.

"I would be honoured." She replied, still grinning. In fact she'd nearly forgotten about the highly charged threat still sitting on her lap, she was so pleased.

Carefully, she slipped the leather cord over Whiplash's head, noticing how he then looked at the piece of jewellery with saddened eyes. Whatever was on his mind seemed to be going to stay there though, since he wasn't speaking in Redwood's presence. It seemed Kira and Bleak were the only ones 'lucky' enough to have the privilege of him talking to them.

They spent the rest of Kira's lunch hour talking about the improvements Redwood was planning on making to his land, adding a small lake and things. He already had a fairly deep river running through it, but he claimed some water pokémon preferred it when the water didn't flow. He sounded genuinely excited about taking responsibility for whatever Kira caught.

She tried not to think of what would happen if she failed.

Bleak would never get to go home, the Professor would never get to achieve his dream of offering a home to pokémon whose trainers owned more than six, and Whiplash… well all she'd really made out of what he'd said was something about challenging Zapdos. But that was unlikely at the best of times.

Nothing like a little pressure to motivate you into doing well.

* * *

Later that night, Kira was sitting at her computer, madly working on a personal project of hers. 

She'd always wanted to invent a new TM. Any kind, she didn't mind which as long as it worked. She'd been trying for the past couple of years with no success. She knew gym leaders sometimes made their own to frighten their opponents. Sometimes they were even known to give promising trainers a copy of it afterwards.

She just couldn't seem to get the coding right.

With a sigh, she grabbed the TM case off her desk and flipped through the disks there until she found the one labelled Sandstorm.

Slotting it into her TM reader, which was USB linked to her PC, she scanned through the coding yet again.

What she really wanted was a move like sandstorm but for every bit of damage that was done to the opponent, some life was restored to the user's team.

She wished she had a way of searching the coding for leech seed, since that was similar, although that actually drained the enemy. But that wasn't available to her, so she had to make do.

She ran a hand through her dishevelled hair and spun in her chair to look at Bleak who was fast asleep on her bed.

Maybe she could even make it fire based so that Bleak could use it. It must feel fantastic to see a pokémon you've raised using a move you invented in battle. You'd feel so proud.

Yawning tiredly, she turned back to the screen, her elbow accidentally knocking the ultraball on her desk to the floor, even though she attempted to catch it.

It sprung open and a for once sleepy looking Whiplash appeared.

Kira panicked slightly and looked around for the gloves which she remembered putting into her bag… which was across the room.

"Hiii!" The tiny mouse waved, seeming to perk up when he saw Kira. God only knows why he liked her so much.

"Ooh! Is this your room?" He looked around, turning in circles on the floor. A look of awe was held in his expression although the room was hardly awe inspiring. It was smaller than average, untidy and cluttered with junk she'd accumulated over the years.

Kira just prayed he wouldn't realise there were plug sockets beneath her desk, powering her computer.

He did notice, maybe he could feel the power there. He even took a few steps in that direction, but he stopped himself, remembering how everyone had reacted at the school. And after absorbing from the sockets he really couldn't seem to control his shocks, and he'd sworn to try not to shock his trainer.

With a leap that seemed impossible for something his size, he landed on her desk, curiously pushing a few buttons on her keyboard.

He couldn't damage it anyway, since the TM was read-only, so Kira let him.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kira asked softly, having wheeled back a little from the desk he was occupying.

"Sure, sure! Anything you want!" he said happily his full attention on her now.

"Why did you look sad when I put that on you?" She pointed at the everstone which still hung decoratively around his neck.

He sighed and touched the stone thoughtfully.

"I heard what the Professor said and I know he's right and I would be powerful and I don't wanna hurt anyone but…It's always been my dream to be a big, powerful Raichu and have a strong trainer who'll help me beat gym leaders and maybe even the pokémon league." He lifted his deep green eyes up to meet Kira's jade ones. "As a Pichu I'm not gonna be much good."

She smiled sadly at him. So that was why he liked her so much; he thought she was the trainer who was going to help him fulfil his dream.

"I can't let you evolve… for everyone's safety. But maybe you can still be strong with a bit of training. It's not like you need evolution to improve your voltage or anything." Kira felt bad for him. He was too young to have his hopes crushed.

He seemed slightly happier now he knew she thought he still had potential.

"Can I ask _you_ a question now?" he asked, his big eyes wide with curiosity.

She nodded unsurely.

"Why are you afraid of me? 'cause I already swore I won't shock you and you're so much bigger than me that you could squish me real easily so I don't understand." He looked upset that he couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong, and Kira felt guilty.

She didn't realise he'd noticed her nervousness and he deserved an explanation.

"Well, first of all it's not just you. I had a very bad experience with an electric pokémon when I was younger and unfortunately I'm terrified of getting electrocuted now. I guess I'm just afraid I'll touch you and get shocked by your static or something…" She trailed off feeling embarrassed.

He nodded, beaming; apparently very pleased she'd shared this with him.

"If that's all that's worrying you, you can stop! My static thingy normally only works when I'm all nervous and jumpy and scared of being hurt, but I know you'd never hurt me, 'cause you're the best trainer in the world!"

She chuckled slightly at that. He obviously hadn't seen many trainers other than her. Hell, he hadn't even seen her battle. But he'd put her mind greatly at ease.

Cautiously, she shuffled closer and reached a tentative bare hand out to touch him.

He leaned upwards in encouragement and her fingers brushed the soft yellow fur. She flinched back the first time, but nothing had happened, so she tried again. His baby fur felt like silk beneath her fingers and she gently trailed them across his head and ears.

He was smiling away and nuzzling against her touch, which made her grin. Well it looked like she was overcoming her fear. As long as he never shocked her she'd be fine.

The little creature uttered a wide yawn and she realised it was after midnight.

"Thanks for trusting me," She whispered as he nodded happily, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

She retrieved his ultraball from its place on the floor and returned him, glancing at Bleak just in time to see the firedog close his eyes quickly. She wondered how long he'd been watching, but decided not to press the matter 'cause the smile on his face was just too cute.

Climbing onto her bed next to him, she drifted off into a dream filled slumber.

* * *

Please leave a Review for me. :) 


	5. Pandemonium

**Angels Fall First. **

_Chapter 5: Pandemonium_

* * *

"Please, please, please, please, please!" 

"No."

"Please, please, pleeeeeaaaassse!

"…"

"Please, Kira! If you let me sit on your shoulder just until we get to the lab, I swear I'll be real good for the Professor!"

"I said no, Whiplash." Kira grumbled. The Pichu might have been cute but he was getting on her last nerve. She was taking him back to Professor Redwood for the day so that he could run some more tests on his dual abilities. Whiplash didn't want to go, since he said it was too boring, but Kira couldn't take him into class being so noisy.

She was tempted to put him inside his ultraball for a while, but they were nearly at the school now and it seemed pointless. People were looking at the trio though, muttering about her being cruel to ignore such a sweet pokémon.

"Please Kira!" He paused realising begging wasn't working. "If you don't let me ride on your shoulder, Imma shock the Professor! I will!"

Kira arched an eyebrow and looked down at the pokémon where he ran between her and Bleak, his short legs having to move fast to keep up.

"Are you threatening my teacher to get your own way?" She asked a hint of amusement in her voice.

He nodded. "Yep!"

"Ugh, fine. But be quiet for a bit." She muttered, not slowing down to let him up.

He gave himself a burst of speed and leapt up, grabbing a pawful of her leather coat and climbing to her shoulder.

"Wow! You are so lucky to be this tall! I can see so far from up here and all the other pokémon look little and I never thought that I could look down at other pokémon, like Bleak! Hi Bleak, how come _you're_ so small?" He giggled and waved at Bleak who rolled his eyes and looked past him to Kira.

"Has he been drinking coffee or something?" He asked with a smirk.

Kira groaned, "Don't give him any ideas, it's bad enough as it is!"

Whiplash turned around, using Kira's short ponytail for support and causing her to grimace.

At least she was dumping him with Redwood for the day.

She felt self conscious having the yellow rodent on her shoulder. Ever since Ketchum had become famous for his pokédex having recorded sightings of every known pokémon, every trainer on the planet seemed to scramble to get a Pikachu like his.

Pretty much everyone you met would have a Pikachu or one of its evolutions balancing precariously on their shoulder, refusing to put their rodent into a pokéball.

After a year or so of this everyone realised that Ketchum just got lucky, and there was nothing magical about walking round with an electric rat on your head that would make you a more successful trainer.

Kira had never really been one to follow trends, especially ones from a decade ago, and she hoped no one would mistake her for a die-hard Ketchum supporter or something.

That would suck.

Whiplash was still chattering happily away, although both trainer and pokémon were trying to ignore him.

* * *

Once Whiplash was handed safely (and instantly silently) over to Professor Redwood, Kira and Bleak had to run to class. The mouse had made them late by stubbornly clinging to Kira's hair until Bleak threatened to eat him if he didn't let go. 

That did the trick, but now they were tardy for the strictest teacher in the academy; Professor Salt.

"Come _on_ Kira! I know you've only got two legs, but Salty'll kill us if we're late!" Bleak groaned as they ran full tilt down the corridor.

Kira just grunted and tried to keep up with her faster companion.

They skidded to a halt outside the classroom door and took a few seconds to compose themselves before walking in.

The clock informed them they were ten minutes late, and Professor Salt looked at the time, then at the flustered girl and her pokémon disapprovingly.

"Ms. Airstryke! I see you decided to join us? Well unfortunately everyone is all paired up." His voice was mocking and sickeningly sympathetic.

Kira glanced around the pokémon battle class to see that he was right… everyone was standing in pairs around the large, gymnasium-like room. And they were all watching the late-comers.

She looked uneasily down at her pokémon, whose ears were drooping miserably.

"Since you're tardy, I guess you'll just have to practice with me today." Professor Salt was smiling a little too much for comfort. She just knew he was going to embarrass her in front of everyone.

"Yes sir." She mumbled, before following him to an empty space.

As the teacher went on to inform the class of what he did and didn't want to be seeing today, Kira was trying to remember which pokémon he owned. She knew he had quite a few, and you could guarantee he'd pick the one with an advantage over her Bleak.

Her pokémon was leaning gently against her leg, but she wasn't sure if he was standing close to comfort himself or her.

"Now, I want you all to watch Ms. Airstryke and I demonstrate. Then you can tell me where you thought she went wrong."

Kira frowned slightly. Sure it was unlikely they'd win against a Battle instructor, but he didn't have to have the other students rub her face in it. She could feel Bleak growling deeply and quietly, and was pleased he felt the same way.

"Machoke, lesson time." He smirked, releasing the large pokémon.

Kira didn't know whether to be amused that he was so predictable, or panic about the distinct level and type disadvantage they had.

Bleak had hardly gotten his furry behind into the space between the two trainers when Salt was ordering a low kick.

The attack caught Bleak by surprise as he wasn't ready yet and the Machoke's foot connected heavily with his side. The little pokémon was sent flying across the smooth floor, his feet scrambling for purchase on the unforgiving surface. He hit the wall hard and struggled to stand up, angry at himself for not being prepared.

"Oh crap. Bleak are you okay?" Kira cringed. That had looked painful.

He grunted, staggering back towards the large fighting type.

"Try an ember.." Kira suggested unsurely. Bleak responded immediately and the small flames spattered against the pokémon's arms which were raised defensively.

Unfortunately it seemed to do very little, except maybe encourage the Machoke who responded to his trainers next command with an accurately placed karate chop.

It hit Bleak on the back of his head between his ears and he slumped to the ground, defeated.

"Well that was nice and quick," Professor Salt smirked. "Now, what did Kira do wrong first?"

One of the more rebellious boys muttered, "She was late for class." This triggered a ripple of giggles from the surrounding students.

Kira was crouched rather forlornly next to the wounded houndour, murmuring soothing words to him. It may have been his body that was bashed around, but it was definitely his ego that was most bruised.

Halfway through Professor Salt explaining about an obvious lack of strategy, the doors slammed open, bouncing off the wall behind them.

Everyone turned to see who'd dared to barge into one of Salty's lessons and were horrified to see three men standing there. Each of them was wearing a black uniform with white gloves, a blazing red 'R' emblazoned on the front of their shirts.

About fifteen years ago Team Rocket had all but vanished from the face of the earth with the life sentence being given to their leader Giovanni, but roughly a year later they were back with a vengeance.

No one knew who was running the show now, with the old boss still securely locked away, but one thing was for sure; Team Rocket were now a force to be reckoned with. They had extended into all the different regions whereas they had formerly been restricted to Kanto and their tactics had advanced to the point of them being known as heartless killers and pokémon thieves.

So finding them inside a school was greatly alarming.

"Hand over your pokémon and no one gets hurt," demanded one guy, sounding bored. He'd done this so many times.

There were gasps as people drew their pokémon closer or recalled them to their pokéballs.

He sighed exaggeratedly and casually pulled out a gun, aiming it loosely at anyone who moved.

"I _said_ hand over your pokémon."

Professor Salt stood beside his Machoke, not sure what to do. He couldn't risk the students getting hurt, but he couldn't just stand by and do nothing either.

"Machoke, low kick!" He suddenly yelled and the pokémon leapt forward to attack.

There was an echoing bang and an agonised cry as the pokémon fell to the floor with a bullet hole through his shoulder.

Salt ran to his side in horror and shock, guilt washing over him. His poor buddy. He grimaced and returned the pokémon to his ball, stopping him suffering until he was healed.

"Anyone else want to play hero?" the Rocket asked, eyeing the students and their inexperienced pokémon.

In shock everyone unhappily returned their pokémon and passed them to another man who was walking around with a sack.

Bleak wanted to fight and Kira was somewhat relieved he was too hurt to attack, since the thought of him getting shot was too awful for words.

"Trust me." She whispered to him before drawing him into the repeat ball. She deftly dropped her hand into her pocket, switching the ball with the spare pokéball she'd gotten him in originally. The motion was fast and discreet, so the Rocket thought nothing of it when she dropped the ball into the sack, a look of anger and despair on her face.

"You won't get away with this." She muttered, but the guy just grinned.

"We always do." He replied haughtily, and with a mocking bow the trio of thieves left the room.

The minute they were gone pandemonium broke out. Everyone was crying or yelling, panicking about their poor pokémon.

Kira's fingers brushed Bleak's repeat ball hidden inside her pocket and she grimaced.

She'd saved her own pokémon, but what about everyone else's? What about Whiplash?

Her grey-green eyes widened as she realised she'd forgotten about the tiny mouse pokémon down in Professor Redwood's lab. If they got hold of him she'd never forgive herself.

It was easy to slip out unnoticed from the chaos inside the room and she crept nervously down the corridors, her senses strained to their limits.

There was a gunshot from somewhere else in the Academy, the terrifying sound muffled by the many walls.

Finally Kira caught sight of one of the few rest stations that were dotted around the college. There was a drinking fountain and a healing machine. They were similar to the ones used in pokémon centers, except they could only heal one pokémon at a time, and only from minor injuries. They were designed for student and staff use after class battles.

Glancing frantically about and feeling horribly exposed in the middle of the hallway, she dropped the ball into the correct slot, and a few coins into another. The progress bar lit up and she watched as it filled up painstakingly slowly. She knew it always took sixty seconds but it felt like hours. Eventually the machine dinged and the ball rolled out into the tray at the bottom.

She grabbed it and shoved him back out of sight and into her pocket again.

Feeling a little more confident now that she had a healthy pokémon to protect her, she continued making her way towards Redwood's lab.

She had to duck out of sight a few times when Rockets were running from room to room, and it seemed to take forever to make the familiar journey.

She could see the door and sped up her steps, only to feel a heavy hand slam down on her shoulder.

Letting out a startled yelp, Kira didn't have time to respond before she found herself slammed against the wall.

Standing in front of her were two Rockets. The one currently pinning her to the wall by her upper arms was a large guy in his mid to late twenties, his short minty green hair standing up jauntily in spikes.

The second man was about the same age but not as tall or as heavily muscled as his colleague. He had a couple of inches of messy blond hair, a few strands falling over his cold blue eyes.

"We've caught ourselves a little mouse," he laughed, but had something of a puzzled expression on his face as he stared at her. Hefting the bulging sack he carried onto one shoulder, he pointed his gun at her with the other hand.

"Check her for pokémon." He suggested, guessing no one would be stupid enough to be creeping about without one.

Kira was dropped to her feet, and she raised her hands warily under the watch of the gun. She was cursing herself for leaving Bleak in such an obvious place.

The larger guy grinned at her as he ran his clumsy hands over her body, causing her to grimace and meet his gaze defiantly.

He arched an eyebrow as he reached her hips, dipping his hand into her pocket to retrieve the repeat ball that was hidden there. He held it up triumphantly.

"Got one!"

Reacting without really thinking, Kira suddenly smacked the ball from his hand. It clattered to the floor, but didn't open as it rolled a few meters down the corridor.

"You stupid girl!" He grumbled, giving her an annoyed shove. He was about to go and retrieve the pokémon when the sound of sirens reached their ears.

"Forget it, that's the signal to get out of here. One more won't make a difference." The guy with the gun said, still giving Kira an odd look. Seeming to consider something for a moment, he fished out a small camera and flashed it in her face, singing "Smile!" as he did so, even though she was clearly scowling.

"Souvenir," he offered as way of explanation, and the two of them ran off, headed for the roof and their escape.

Kira released a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding and rubbed her bruised arms shakily. That had been too close. She couldn't believe she'd hit the ball away from him! That was practically suicidal.

But it had worked.

Trembling slightly she walked to the pokéball and picked it up, clutching it tightly. Thank heaven for the police turning up.

Rushing to the door she'd been targeting, she was surprised to find it locked. She shook the handle a few times and then knocked loudly. There was no reply and she knocked again urgently, hating standing out here now paranoid that more Rockets would be coming down this way to get to the roof.

"Professor Redwood? Let me in!" She called out quietly but frantically, tugging the handle again.

"Kira?" A nervous voice came from inside and the sound of a key turning in the lock was heard.

The door opened a crack and the Professor's pale face could be seen in the darkness beyond it.

"Yeah, it's me! Let me in." She pushed her way in and the Professor locked the door swiftly behind her.

"I figured if the door was locked and the lights were off they'd think no one was in here." He murmured, answering her unspoken question about the darkness.

"I uh... bumped into a couple of them in the hallway. They're heading out, going up to the roof." She noticed her voice sounded a little unsteady and she was still shaking a bit.

Redwood seemed to relax slightly at this news and flicked his desk lamp on to provide them with a little light, without attracting attention.

This was his office and Kira noticed the door that connected it to his lab had a chair pulled in front of it.

"Did you see them?" She asked, flopping down into the wheelie chair at his desk, her hands still clutching Bleak's repeat ball.

"Yes. They barged into the staff room and started firing at the ceiling, demanding directions on how to get to the pokémon storage facility. After they left I came straight here to check on my pokémon. They were all fine luckily. Whiplash too," he added seeing the worried look she gave him.

He walked over to a filing cabinet and unlocked one of the drawers. Shifting the folders to the front, he retrieved some pokéballs from the concealed space behind them.

He handed her the Pichu's ultraball with a shaky smile, then sat on the chair by the door with his three pokéballs.

He opened the great ball and his prized Jumpluff appeared. It floated gently onto his lap and he ran his fingers through the soft, cotton-like fluff she sported.

"I was so worried I'd lose them all." He sighed.

There was a bang on the door, making them all jump, but it turned out to be the police so they quickly let them in.

Kira explained what she'd witnessed and they were informed that no one had been killed but there were a few serious injuries. Unfortunately just under half of the pokémon from the academy were missing.

And Team Rocket had escaped in a set of helijets from the roof.

* * *

_To Keleri_: _Thanks for reading this and for suggesting I drop the rating. I don't know if I'll get any more readers from doing so, but as long as I know _someone_ is reading it I'm happy. _

_To everyone else…:_

**Review? Pweeeze:)**


	6. Daisy chains

**Angels Fall First. **

_**Chapter 6: Daisy chains**_

Clive, the blonde haired Rocket from the school, sat at his computer late at night. On the screen was the picture he'd taken earlier that day, the girl glaring irately at him from behind the glass.

Something had clicked when he'd seen her and it was driving him insane that he couldn't figure out what. He slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead a few times, ordering himself to think.

That's it! He sprung up off the chair, startling the Ivysaur who was lying on his bed, and rushed for the half open cupboard. Tugging out a tattered cardboard box, he rummaged through it until he found a folder labelled 'old stuff'.

Emptying it out messily onto the floor, he shuffled through the various notes and pictures until he located the one in particular he was looking for.

There was a small girl in the picture, maybe eight or nine years old he guessed. She looked sad, and a little too thin, but it was the hair that made him smile. She had it long in this picture, falling in loose black curls past her shoulders. But the short fringe she sported was a deep green.

He scrambled back onto his seat and held the image up to the screen to compare. The girl was obviously older, but that would be about right, judging by the date on the photo. She had much shorter hair that was neatly pulled back into a ponytail, but soft pieces of green were left out to frame her face at chin level.

The eyes looked the same, if not a little less haunted and he found himself grinning.

He grabbed his mobile phone and swiftly dialled the number of his more bulky, green haired team mate.

"Kenny! Listen! I figured out why that girl looked so familiar!" He started excitedly once his friend answered. "What d'you mean, 'what girl?' The one from the academy with the weird hair… Yeah that one.

"Anyway, I found a photo from ages ago and guess what! She was one of the targets from like seven years ago."

He paused to grab the notes that had been attached to the picture.

"Apparently it was some kind of revenge thing, she got the Saffron branch closed down and they wanted her to pay for getting so many guys arrested."

He listened as Kenny spoke on the other end of the line.

"Yes of course I'm sure! She was only ten when she did it.. seems a bit harsh to enact revenge on a kid so young, but who am I to judge." He chuckled, swapping the phone to his other hand.

"She was here in Mahogany town the whole time, guess they didn't think she'd have been shipped to Johto. Says on the photo her name's Airstryke, first name Kira.

"What d'you mean you don't see what the big deal is! She's here, which means she was never caught. And you know how well the boss holds a grudge. He'd probably be well chuffed to find out where she was…. Exactly, glad you see my point.

"I'll send the pictures off tonight and fill you in when I get a reply, 'kay?

"Right, see ya." He hung up and immediately started work.

His eyes scanned the email one last time, checking that both pictures were in it as well as a short note explaining. He signed both his and Kenny's names and clicked 'send', grinning as he stretched and then flopped onto the creaky motel bed.

His Ivysaur shuffled over to give him some room.

"Do you think he'll pay us for this information?" The pokémon asked curiously.

"He's bound to! Unless he's lost his vengeful streak…" They shared a look and shook their heads in unison. "Nah."

* * *

In a darkened room somewhere in the world, a shadowy figure sat at a computer. His eyes trailed over the email again and again, finally coming to rest on the image of a young woman as a sadistic grin crept onto his features. 

"So they've found you..." He whispered to the empty room, "The one that got away."

He leaned back in the comfortable chair, his fingers dancing out a thoughtful pattern on the arm.

But what to do with this information?

She'd obviously been getting on with her life if she'd been spotted at a college, and since she'd had pokémon on her, it was easy to deduce that she was studying to become a trainer.

He was half tempted to leave well enough alone, but the thought of all the trouble she'd caused him resurfaced.

When she'd escaped he'd been surprised as it was something of an unknown concept for people to actually get away from Team Rocket.

He'd even seen her himself a few times when he'd been in Saffron. When she was little she'd sometimes deliver messages to him or his secretary and he'd thought it was a cute way of stopping older Rockets from seeing him. He liked to keep an air of mystery about himself after all.

This was another thing that had alarmed him slightly about her wandering off. She'd seen his face. It was unlikely that she'd remember him from when she was so young, but there was a chance she would. And if she blabbed to the cops about him he'd have to go into hiding, which was something he despised.

After searching futilely for a couple of weeks, he'd called the search off. It had seemed a waste of resources to use perfectly good men on a hunt for a ten year old girl.

He could still remember the embarrassment when he realised the kid he'd stopped bothering about had gone and spilled her guts to the police. He'd been in Fuchsia at the time and the news was devastating.

The Saffron HQ was the key point for the whole Kanto side of things. Since it was smack bang in the centre it made for easy access to most of the other branches.

He lost a good two hundred men that night, not to mention probably a thousand pokémon and tons of expensive equipment. And he knew that it was his fault.

If he'd just kept them looking for her for a little longer six months prior instead of getting bored, he could have prevented the whole thing happening.

And worse, any Rocket who made the connection about the escape from that branch and its later closure knew he'd messed up. And he couldn't stand that.

He'd had a picture and some notes sent to every operative he could locate within the Kanto region and had them do a thorough search but she seemed to have vanished, which didn't really surprise him too much.

His hands curled into fists. No, he wouldn't just let her be. She'd blemished his reputation, and no one got away with that.

Besides she wasn't just a child anymore, she was what? Seventeen, eighteen? That was plenty old enough to have lost the innocent image and people wouldn't question him using his resources on someone who could actually be a threat.

He smiled thinly to himself; he would prove that he doesn't leave loose ends.

* * *

Blissfully unaware of any of this, Kira was enjoying a day off school. After the all too successful heist they'd given everyone a couple of days to recover from the shock. 

She felt a little guilty that she could be relaxing when many of her classmates were grieving the loss of their pokémon. But what could she do? No one was stupid enough to run off and try to find and confront Team Rocket, so until the police got a lead everyone would just have to accept that the pokémon were not coming back.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she pulled her hand back just in time to prevent Bleak's teeth from closing on it. She back stepped a little as he crouched down, growling before her, the silver in his ear twinkling in the sunlight of the park.

"Little close there, don't you think!" She grumbled but was quieted as he lunged at her. She tried unsuccessfully to dodge the furry torpedo but it was a direct hit and she lost her balance. He sat on her stomach giving her an innocent smile.

"We can keep doing this all day, but you aren't gonna win." He laughed and prodded her nose with a paw.

Whiplash, who was sitting in the grass a few feet away, giggled gleefully, electricity fizzing at his cheeks.

Kira shot a glare at the mouse before scowling up at Bleak.

"Maybe… or maybe not!" She cried as she suddenly shoved him off her and tried to hold him down against the grass.

With a somewhat bored expression, he kicked her off knocking her onto her back and standing behind her head he held her down with his paws on her shoulders.

Kira groaned. "Couldn't you at least let me win _once_?" she whined.

"Nuh uh. Sorry but I don't do losing on purpose."

She stuck her tongue out at him, but reached up to rub the rusty fur of his muzzle anyway.

"Is it safe for me to let you up now?" He asked in amusement. "You won't go attacking me again?"

This had all started when Bleak had playfully taken Kira's book, causing her to chase him. It had somehow turned into a battle of strengths, but it was rather one sided.

Bleak might have been smaller but he was far stronger and actually had some knowledge in fighting. Unfortunately Kira was too stubborn to admit defeat so soon and he'd had to flatten her six times now.

"Uh, yeah, I give up." She muttered, dropping her hands to the ground.

"Say it then," Bleak prompted, grinning.

"Do I have to?" She pouted but he gave her a look so she sighed. "Bleak is the best and most incredibly strong being on the planet. He by far surpasses my skills and all should worship him. There. Happy now?"

He tilted his head. "You forgot the part about me ruling the world, but that was close enough." He gave her a mocking pat on the head before backing off to flop in the grass near Whiplash.

Kira sat up with a sigh, "Ugh that houndour will be the death of me," she mumbled but judging by Bleak's smirk he heard it.

Whiplash, deciding it was safe to approach now, darted over to his beloved trainer.

"I can't do it!" he fumed, miserably throwing some daisies onto her lap. Whilst Kira and Bleak had been play fighting, Whiplash had been trying to master the subtle art of daisy chains.

Kira really didn't have the patience to show him yet again how to do it, so she picked the daisies up.

"I'll just make you a chain if you want," she suggested, tossing aside some of the more mangled daisies from his attempts.

"Yes please!" He grinned, instantly joyful once again, "A long one! But you're gonna need more flowers and I kind of mushed a few but I'll go and get some more!" He was hopping up and down in enthusiasm before he dashed off to retrieve more of the little plants.

She yawned, splitting one stalk to thread another through it. Watching the excitable young creature made her tired. Where did he get his energy from?

She eventually made him a chain that was about twenty daisies long and he ran about happily with it, watching it trail behind him.

* * *

"I can't believe you got us into this!" Kenny was pacing up and down his team mates motel room, occasionally running a hand through his spiked hair. 

Clive frowned and stood up, gesturing angrily. "Well how was I supposed to know he'd put us on the mission personally! I thought he'd just be happy we'd provided him with the location. He was supposed to pay us, not get us involved."

"You sure he wants her alive?" Kenny groaned, sitting on the bed with his face in his hands. "You know how much I hate friggin' kidnapping runs."

Clive nodded distantly, "Yeah it said 'Alive and relatively undamaged.'" He sat on the computer chair with a sigh. "Look, there's a hell of a lot of money in this for us, as well as a possible promotion to admin. And you _know_ we can't just say no."

Kenny nodded but still looked annoyed.

"It's just a straight forward grab and drop off. We've done it before!"

"Yeah, once! And do you remember how much that bastard captive whined? We had to keep him with us for over a week to get to the drop off point. I thought I was gonna go nuts." Kenny growled, not wanting to repeat that experience.

"Well we can gag her if she gets annoying or something, I don't know!" His friend hissed, getting irritated. "The fact of the matter is, we _have_ to do this now. We can get some info from her school, where she lives and stuff, then it'll be easy."

Kenny nodded, still looking unhappy. He liked jobs to be quick and easy… missions like this took too much time and left plenty of room for things to go wrong.

And he wasn't a fan of things going wrong.

* * *

_To MorriganFearn: Wow, that is one hell of a review! Thank you so much for taking the time to write that for me. I'm thrilled you like the characters (and especially pleased you think Whiplash is written okay. I was worried I was over doing it a little. )  
That scene with the Scizor puts my writing to shame, so I'm going to try harder to give a wider perspective. I tend to just narrow in on my little group and block out the rest. But I'll try and fix that in future chapters.  
Oh, and your point about the Rockets carrying the pokémon they stole… well I mentioned they were using sacks, and when pokeballs are at their smallest I don't think it'd be too difficult. Plus it was easy enough to intimidate the students since they aren't real trainers yet and their pokémon have very little experience. __As for steel and rock types I just plain didn't think of it. Whoops.  
But anyway, thanks muchly for reading and I hope I can keep you somewhat entertained._

_To Keleri: Thanks for sticking with me and continuing to read this. And yeah, steel types kind of slipped my mind. They're the only type that does that, but they do it when I'm playing the games and everything! Go figure. _

Review please:)


	7. Footsteps

**Angels Fall First. **

_Chapter 7: Footsteps _

The academy was quiet and miserable. Many students hadn't bothered to come back in at all; the loss of their pokémon to Team Rocket was too devastating. Those who had made the effort to return simply slouched against their lockers or talked together in hushed voices, their eyes defeated.

Kira felt guilty as she walked through the hallways with her pokémon at her side. Bleak walked close at her heels his head lowered, and Whiplash rode on his back. Even the tiny mouse had sensed the sombre mood and he was silent.

People were giving her looks of resentment and jealousy, as well as the couple of others she noticed still had their pokémon.

There was a boy with a taillow on his shoulder and a girl with a shroomish, but those were the only pokémon she spotted on the way to her first class.

It was disheartening to say the least.

Later in the day she had an abnormally long lunch break, since her battle class was cancelled for the time being. After all, she was the only one in her particular class to have retained a pokémon. Several students from that class demanded to know how she'd gotten her pokémon back and why she hadn't retrieved others at the same time, and she had to uncomfortably explain that despite what it looked like, hers were never actually taken.

She was even given two separate offers of people asking to _buy_ her pokémon off her! She'd just glared at them and refused flat out, throwing in a small speech about pokémon not being property and promptly storming off.

In an effort to escape the dismal atmosphere Kira headed up to Professor Redwood's office with her lunch. The cafeteria was not a happy place to be.

"Ah, Kira! I was hoping you'd stop by," the professor said, looking up from a microscope as she entered. "There were some people here asking about you earlier. I ... overheard them talking to the headmaster." He blushed slightly and Kira couldn't hide a smile at the thought of him eavesdropping.

"What kind of people?" She asked, only a little curious. People from social services checked up on her every so often, so it wasn't a terribly new thing. They didn't often come to the school though.

"Two young men. I believe they said they were friends of yours from out of town."

Kira's hand paused, the sandwich halfway to her mouth.

"Do I even have any friends from out of town?" She mused thoughtfully. "What'd they look like?"

Bleak looked up from his dish of pokémon food, following the conversation carefully. Whiplash on the other hand was stuffing his face happily, oblivious to anything other than his lunch.

"Well…" the professor began thoughtfully, thinking back. "Both seemed a little older than you, maybe in the age group of twenty-three to twenty-six? I'm not sure. One was a big lad, minty green hair. Looked like he worked out a lot. The other was blonde and a little smaller. He had a shifty look about him. Not to insult your friends, of course." He hurriedly added.

Kira nodded dismissively. She was pretty sure she didn't know any guys of that age, especially ones who weren't from round here. Although there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that those descriptions did mean something to her. She sighed and shook her head.

"Nope, no idea. What did they want?" she asked with a little more interest than she'd had at the beginning of this conversation.

"They said something about having some news to give you. The Headmaster offered to go and find you, but they just took your address and said they'd rather talk to you at home." He shrugged. "That's all I heard."

She nodded again, finally biting her sandwich. Whoever they were it looked like she'd be seeing them again sooner or later if they took her address. She wondered if maybe they were friends of her family who had managed to track her down after all this time. As unlikely as that was, she was curious now.

Thanking the Professor for the information, she also asked him to keep an eye on Whiplash for the day, thinking it'd be better for him to be in a less miserable environment.

* * *

When she came to pick him up later she was greeted by the sound of hysterical laughter. Warily throwing a look at Bleak, she pushed the door open, her mouth dropping open in shock.

Redwood was frantically typing things into his computer and Whiplash… well… he seemed to be having a great time.

He was sitting on the professor's Jumpluff who was taking great, graceful leaps towards the ceiling, then floating smoothly back down. Whiplash seemed to love this and was giggling uncontrollably. Sparks jumped from his cheeks as he laughed but the Jumpluff didn't seem too bothered.

"I got him to speak!" Redwood exclaimed happily as he noticed Kira. "He's confirmed a lot of what I thought, it's great that he seems to like me more now!"

Kira looked uneasily at the hyperactive rodent. "How did you get him to trust you?"

"It was easy! I just gave him some candy. He seems to love the stuff!"

Kira and Bleak both groaned. "You gave him sweets? Oh shite. Is he on a sugar rush now?"

Redwood shrugged sheepishly. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

It took a lot of work to get him to come home with them, since he kept dodging his ultraball's beam. Eventually they just said they were going and started to walk off and _then_ Kira soon felt the familiar weight of him bouncing onto her shoulder.

* * *

Kira was a little disappointed that her mystery visitors never showed up that evening. She was dying to find out who they were. It wasn't every day that she got a couple of older guys asking about her after all.

Still, by the time she went to bed there was no sign of them and she resigned herself to the fact that they must be waiting until tomorrow.

Kira was asleep that night in bed and Bleak lay on top of the covers with his forepaws and his head resting on her stomach.

Due to his Early Bird ability he woke up far more easily than most pokémon, and a faint noise outside caught his attention. Instantly in full wakefulness, he sprung off the bed and dashed to the window, peering under the curtain.

Kira woke up with a shock as he leapt off her rather carelessly. She glanced around the dark room blearily, her mind scrambling to wake up. Risking a look at the glowing clock she saw it was 3:19 am. Far too early in her opinion.

"Bleak?" she whispered into the darkness. He had a way of blending into the shadows that made it hard to spot him in the dark.

"Shush." He hissed, head tilted as he listened intently.

She stayed quiet, wondering what had caught his attention.

After a few minutes he jumped back onto the bed.

"What was that about?" she asked, yawning.

"There was someone out there. I heard the front gate open." He shrugged slightly. "It looked like there was someone in the garden, but they just looked up at the house for a bit then left."

Kira frowned, "Why would someone do that?"

He flopped down against the covers. "No idea, maybe they were just drunk or something." He reassured her.

She nodded and eventually went back to sleep. Bleak on the other hand decided to stay on the alert, just in case.

* * *

A few days passed and there was no sign of Kira's 'out of town friends'. She was disappointed and still intensely curious about what news they were supposedly bringing.

Maybe the Professor had heard wrong and it wasn't her they were asking after at all.

She stifled a yawn and glanced at her watch. Oh crap! It was coming on for half eleven at night and her curfew was at ten. True her carers had become accustomed to her being late quite often, but and hour and a half was a bit of a push. Hopefully they'd all be asleep.

She'd been down to the local pokémon mart, once she realised she was out of pokémon food and her little buddies would have nothing for breakfast. At least the marts now stayed open 24 hours for travelling trainers. If they'd been shut she would have felt really guilty.

She was suddenly aware of an extra set of footsteps some way back. She paused and they stopped, so she looked around a little nervously. The fact that there seemed to be no one about worried her more than if she'd seen someone on the path a ways back.

Cursing the fact that both her pokémon were snugly in their pokéballs, which she'd left on her bed, she picked up her pace. Before she'd had Bleak she'd had to go into town on her own all the time. And she was only going to one shop so it seemed pointless to drag them along.

The plastic carrier bag she was holding seemed to rustle far too loudly and she was very aware of the thud of her boots. She wished she could just disappear into the shadows like Bleak.

She could hear the extra footsteps again. They were light and fast so she guessed their owner was in a hurry. Trying not to waver in her own steps, she spun unexpectedly to look behind her. Just in time to see someone drop out of sight into an alleyway.

Her heart was beating hard now. It could just be a coincidence but she was pretty sure that whoever that was, they were following her. It wasn't too unusual in this crummy part of town for people to be mugged or murdered or something. But Kira had never really considered that she could be one of the victims.

She started to walk faster, hearing the other set of footsteps do the same. Up ahead, she thought she saw someone peering out of another alleyway and she panicked. One guy, she might be able to handle, but how many were in on this?

She broke into a run, crossing the deserted road as she did so. No one was going to drag her into an alley and kill her, not after all she'd survived through!

She could clearly hear the footsteps pounding after her and she risked a look over her shoulder. There were two men a fair way behind, but it was too dark to make out their features. Not that she cared what they looked like. She tried to move faster, but the bag she carried threw her off balance a little and it was hard to run smoothly.

She could see home now and pushed her legs to move faster. If she could just get inside she'd be okay!

She threw the gate open, shoving it closed behind her. The footsteps seemed to have stopped, but she rushed to unlock the front door all the same. Once inside she frantically locked the door again, and then leaned against it breathing hard. That was too close for comfort.

"Kira?" a voice came out of the darkness of the hallway making her jump, startled.

"Daniel?" She asked, trying to calm down. Little Daniel was the youngest child there, being just six years old. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"My lights are flashing…" he whimpered sounding scared. "I think there's a ghost in my room!"

"Your lights?" she asked only half paying attention. She hoped he wouldn't notice she was trembling. She didn't think she could explain to him that she just nearly been jumped on the way home and probably only narrowly escaped being viciously murdered. The poor kid was still dealing with the loss of his parents.

He was nodding, eyes wide. "I thought it might be a storm, but it's not even raining!" he snivelled. "I knocked on your door. It looked like your lights were flashing too, but only your pokémon shouted something and no one opened up."

She nodded, trying to focus on the scared little boy and not think about someone bashing the door down with an axe. "Wait, which pokémon?" she asked, realising they were both supposed to be in their pokéballs.

"Your Pikachu, but I don't know what he said."

"Pichu," she corrected him. Of course he wouldn't understand him, as he'd never learnt pokéspeak.

"Come on, let's go see what the problem is." She suggested, leading him up the stairs. The landing light was on and the bulb kept dimming then getting brighter. She frowned that was certainly odd.

"See," Daniel whispered, "It's a ghost."

"I bet it's not." She smiled at him. But what could cause that? They walked to her bedroom door and she could see a lot of flashing lights coming from beneath it. They weren't in time with the landing light though and she frowned.

What could.. "Oh he _wouldn't_!" she suddenly growled and threw the door open. Just as she'd expected, the source of the lights was beneath her desk and her computer's power plugs were trailing out instead of being plugged in at the wall.

Keeping her distance and ordering Daniel to stay in the doorway, she crouched down to look under the desk.

"Whiplash, you _bad_ Pichu!" she yelled, belatedly realising she didn't want to wake everyone up.

The electric rodent flinched dramatically and tugged his paw from the power socket, hiding it behind his back. Electricity was jumping around the highly charged pokémon, and his eyes were wide and panicky.

"I told you never to do that!" Kira fumed, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"I didn't!" He squeaked out, but it was an obvious lie.

"Do you have any idea how much that'll cost on the electricity bill?" He shook his head and his wide, green eyes stared up into Kira's.

She suddenly felt that she was being too hard on him. After all, how could she be mad at something so small and innocent? She shouldn't shout at him. Poor thing.

"Kira?" Daniel asked cautiously from the doorway.

Kira shook her head and glared at the twitching Pichu.

"Tell me you didn't just use your charm attack on me!" she growled unhappily.

He squeaked and backed up under the desk. "I don't want you to be mad at me! Sorry!"

She groaned tiredly. Couldn't she even get a break between crisis's these days?

"Look, just… get away from the computer. You blow that up and I'll never forgive you." She pointed at the bed. "Go and stand on the bed, close to the wall. And _please_ try not to shock me."

The little pokémon gladly did as he was told, fighting to hold in the vast amount of electricity.

Kira pulled the rubber gloves she'd never really needed out of a draw and tugged them on, before edging towards the window.

She flinched as stray sparks hit the floor near her feet. Making it safely to the window, she peered out. There was no sign of anyone out there, not even her would be attackers. She yanked the stiff window open then backed away to the door where Daniel still stood watching.

"Stand on the window ledge and use thundershock into the empty street. See if you can get rid of some of the electricity." She ordered, hoping this would work.

Whiplash nodded enthusiastically and sped over to the window. He unleashed a blinding flash of electricity out into the night, then took a deep breath and did it again. After about five thundershocks, they became less intense and he was only sparking a little bit.

Kira nodded and ordered him to stay put, then turned to Daniel.

"I'm sorry he scared you, but you see… no ghosts!" she smiled weakly and ruffled his hair. "Now go back to bed before I get into trouble for keeping you up."

He saluted her with a grin and scampered off down the hallway, giving her one last smile and a wave before disappearing into his own room.

After he was gone, she closed her own door and flopped onto her bed, looking wearily up at the sad looking Pichu on her window ledge.

"I'm so sorry Kira! I couldn't resist the 'lectric was calling me and it feels so good to be so powerful and I know you told me not to but I was gonna stop after just a little bit." He tried to explain himself, all the while looking like he was going to cry. "Do you hate me now?"

Kira sighed but shook her head. "Of course I don't hate you, silly. I'm sorry I yelled.. it's just.. been a rough night. And this was the last thing I wanted to come home to. You have to understand that when I tell you not to do something there's usually a good reason for it."

He nodded, offering a cautious smile. His cheeks were still fizzing a little but he seemed almost back to normal now.

"I promise I won't do it again." He swore, a determined look in his eyes. No matter how much he was drawn to the electricity, he couldn't bear upsetting his trainer. He would ignore the urges to keep her happy.

She smiled gratefully and blew him a kiss, not daring to actually touch him whilst he was still shooting off random sparks every so often. Reassured that he knew she wasn't really mad, she returned him to his ultraball and lay back on her bed. What a stressful day.

Reluctantly she got ready for bed, then picked up Bleak's pokéball. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to any one right now, but he'd probably be offended if she left him in the ball all night. And even more so if she didn't tell him what had happened, not that she wanted to worry him.

She sighed, then let him out. He seemed to sense that she was unhappy about something and she carefully explained the night's events. Making sure to reassure him that she was fine of course.

He knew one thing as they fell asleep that night. He was never letting her wander the streets alone at night again. Who knew humans would just attack each other for no reason? What a stupid species. Even though Kira had told him it was no big deal, he could tell it had really shaken her. Next time he'd just have to be there to look after her then.

_

* * *

_

_Author's note:_

_Ugh, I don't know if this chapter is really any good. I've had a fever for the last few days and I think there was a point where I was hallucinating whilst I was trying to write this. So if any of it is weird and rambles about floating clowns then just ignore it. I still feel crappy so I can't be dealing with review responses right now. But thanks aplenty to those who took the time to leave me a review. It cheered me up a lot. :)_


	8. Balloon

**Angels Fall First. **

_Chapter 8: Balloon _

Bleak was beginning to put two and two together.

He didn't want to frighten Kira and he wasn't positive he was correct so he stayed mute on the subject. But he was beginning to worry.

Over the last few days he'd felt an eerie sense of being watched whenever they were out. At first he'd chalked it down to paranoia, thinking maybe what Kira had told him of her close encounter had spooked him or something. But now he wasn't so sure.

First of all some guys Kira didn't even seem to know had been asking about her at her school, and then seemingly disappeared. He'd spotted someone outside the house who, despite what he'd said, didn't look drunk. His night time eyes had been able pick up on the easy movements and thoughtful expression even from the third floor.

Then Kira had nearly been attacked on the way home, and he was wondering if it was really such an unlikely idea that all these things were somehow connected.

He glanced up at his temporary trainer from where he trotted at her heels. She was trying to explain to Whiplash that stealing from shops was bad. It looked like before he was captured the Pichu made use of his small size to grab what he wanted and leg it.

Now he appeared to be guilt tripping about all the apples and other stuff he'd unknowingly stolen.

They were walking round a shopping centre, trying to find some decent TM's. It was after school hours so the place was pretty packed, but they were making progress.

Kira was particularly after ones to enhance Whiplash's abilities since he couldn't learn much naturally in his unevolved state. She'd already gotten hold of Thunder and was searching the shelves for Rain Dance to match it.

Her fingers skimmed lightly along the TM covers as she searched, trying to work out what kind of an order these things were supposed to be in. It didn't seem to be numerical or alphabetical.

Irritated, and trying to ignore the tiny mouse who was whining from her shoulder that he never realised that people were supposed to get money for that banana he ate a few months ago, and how he hopes they didn't need the money to pay for a life threatening operation or something, Kira finally snapped.

"Whiplash, please shut up. I know you didn't mean to steal, and I'm sure you won't do it again, so it's okay! Now make yourself useful and go look for the words Rain Dance on one of these covers." She gestured to the displays full of disks.

Whiplash grinned and sprung from her shoulder to the top of the rack so he could walk along and try and spot it.

Bleak looked around the shop from his lower perspective, not searching for disks but keeping an eye open for anything that seemed out of place.

After a few minutes Whiplash came bounding back over to them on all fours with a disk in his mouth. Kira took it and was surprised that he'd actually managed to find the damn thing. She congratulated him and he seemed thrilled to be a help.

After paying for the pair of TM's and getting Whiplash the shiny red helium balloon he was begging her for, she decided to go home. Maybe she could stop and get some fast food on the way.

Once they got outside and away from the noise and hubbub of the shopping centre, Bleak became aware, yet again, of the feeling of being watched. He looked about uneasily but couldn't spot anyone.

Whiplash bounced along between the two of them, his balloon tied around his waist. He was disappointed it wasn't strong enough to make him fly, but he was light enough for it to make jumping more fun. A bit. Kira wasn't sure it did anything but he swore it took longer than normal to hit the ground.

"Bleak, you okay?" Kira asked, noticing he was looking behind them. She turned to look herself but there was no one there.

"Yeah," he said quickly, trying to shake the feeling. "Just... I don't know. I feel a bit jumpy I guess."

His trainer nodded, having been feeling a little paranoid herself.

She quickened their pace a little but having two pokémon at her side made her feel stronger. At least she had the means to protect herself today.

There was a sudden BANG! and they all jumped in alarm. Whiplash let out a mournful wail as he realised his balloon was dead. He hugged the piece of rubber sadly and tried to tell himself it had lived a good life.

Kira was looking about warily. As far as she knew, there was no reason for that to have just burst on its own. So why did it? Bleak seemed to be on the same wavelength and they walked ever quicker, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Bleak suddenly yelped and stumbled sideways. He blinked a few times looking dizzy and then collapsed onto the dirty pavement of the street.

Panicking, Kira crouched next to him.

"Bleak?" She gently shook him, trying to rouse him. "C'mon Bleak get up!"

The only movement was the slow rise and fall of his chest. At least she knew he wasn't dead. She tried to roll him over and noticed something protruding from his neck.

Gingerly she pulled it out, shocked to find an empty dart. Did someone shoot him with a tranquiliser? She looked about frantically but the streets seemed to be devoid of any threat.

"Why's he sleeping?" Whiplash asked in a high, scared voice, his little paws twisting the rubber of the balloon nervously.

"Someone shot him!" she choked out, trying to keep from hyperventilating. Not wanting to waste time trying to locate his pokéball from her bag, she scooped Bleak's limp form into her arms and started running.

Whiplash darted along at her heels, occasionally stumbling over the string he still wore.

There was a clinking noise and Kira didn't need to look back to know that another dart had just hit the pavement behind them.

"Stay with me Whiplash," she warned needlessly. The little pokémon was running so close to her feet she was afraid she might tread on him.

Kira didn't know what to do. She was a good half an hour away from home and she couldn't keep up this speed for long. Her breathing was coming out ragged and she cursed that Bleak was so much heavier than he looked.

She didn't know who was shooting at them or where from and she was terrified that either she or Whiplash would also get hit. Or that they'd hit Bleak again… what would a double dosage do!

She spotted a familiar sign over a shop and felt hope wash over her as she made a mad rush for it.

She burst through the door, the bell at the top of it jingling wildly as she rushed for the counter. Just as she'd expected, Lenard was stood behind it showing a customer a book of tattoo designs.

"Kira? What's wrong?" He asked instantly, seeing the distress on her face an in her actions. The other customer was promptly forgotten.

"Oh God, Len! They shot him!" She blurted out, clinging a little tighter to her houndour for emphasis.

Lenard's eyes widened as he took in the limp pokémon's appearance.

"What? Who did?" He asked, rushing to the window to see who was out there.

"I don't know! Someone's after me, they tried to shoot us too!" Kira was trying not to cry but she was shaking terribly.

"I'm sorry, we're now closed." Len hurriedly said to the other burly customer, steering him out the door and hoping he wouldn't get shot as he left. There were a couple of other citizens he could see walking around and none of them seemed to be worried. He could only guess that someone had targeted his young customer only.

Once they were alone, he quickly locked the door and turned the 'closed' sign into place. As an afterthought he shoved a key into a switch and lowered the shutters on the little shop as well.

He noticed there was a Pichu sitting on the floor clutching what appeared to be a burst balloon and emitting small nervous sparks. He was surprised for a minute, but realised he must be with Kira since she wasn't paying him any attention.

Quickly, he ushered them all round the back and up the stairs to his small flat, checking the back door was bolted as they went.

In the living room/ dining room/ kitchen area Kira carefully laid Bleak on the floor and sank to the ground next to him. Whiplash sat trembling nearby, not really understanding what was going on.

Lenard dropped to his knees beside them and looked Bleak over carefully.

Kira showed him the dart which she'd had the mind to pocket and he seemed relieved it hadn't been bullets.

"If it's just a tranquiliser he should wake up when it wears off I guess." He murmured, running a comforting hand over the ivory protrusions on the small canines back.

The daylight was beginning to fade but he didn't want to draw attention by putting the lights on

Cautiously he walked over to the window, pushing a pile of sketchbooks out of the way. He couldn't see anyone suspicious in the streets but that didn't mean they weren't out there.

"Do you have any idea who'd be after you?" He asked, trying to sound calm. One of them needed to be thinking straight at least.

She shook her head. "No… although the other night some guys chased me all the way home. I thought they were muggers or murderers or something. Do you think it could be them?" Her voice was hiccupy and wavering, but she didn't care. She just forlornly held Bleak's black paws in her hands, wishing he'd wake up.

Len looked back to the window thoughtfully. Whoever was after her today certainly wasn't out for murder. If they were they wouldn't be using tranquiliser darts.

But what did that mean? That someone wanted to catch her but keep her alive, he supposed.

"I think we should call the police." He finally said, then paused and frowned. It looked like there was someone on the roof of a shop someway down the street on the other side of the road.

Kira watched him from the floor as he walked quickly to a messy shelving unit and dug about for his binoculars. He found them and hurried back to the window.

"I think I see the culprits." He said slowly. "There's two guys on the roof down the road. These binoculars aren't brilliant but I think one of them's holding something. It could well be a gun." He hesitated and messed with the focus a bit. Oh crap… it looked like they were wearing Rocket uniforms.

He turned to look at the terrified girl on his floor and wondered if he should share that information. He also wondered what the heck she'd done to draw fire from the Rockets. They might have a bad reputation but they never just attacked randomly for fun.

"Don't panic, but I think they might be Rocket grunts." He said slowly, lifting the binoculars again.

Kira gasped miserably. The Rockets couldn't be after her again! She'd done that part of her life a long time ago and it wasn't something she wanted to repeat.

"I heard in the news that they attacked the Academy. I was kinda hoping you'd pop in 'cause I was worried. I heard there were a few injuries and a lot of people lost their pokémon."

He looked round at her and she nodded quietly. "Yeah I was one of the lucky ones."

Len tried to work out how to phrase his next sentence.

"You didn't do anything to piss them off while they were there did you?"

She laughed bitterly and shook her head again. "Not really, no."

It was all coming together in her mind now. The guys who had spoken to her headmaster… Redwood's descriptions of them were a near perfect match for the Rockets she'd encountered.

They must have recognised her from seven years ago or something. But would they really hold a grudge that long?

"Oh man, they know where I live!" she gasped out in a panic, causing Lenard to look at her in confusion.

"What makes you say that?" He asked, getting the feeling he wasn't hearing the full story.

"Those guys out there… Does one have green hair and the other blonde?" she asked, ignoring his query.

He eyed her warily but nodded. Now he knew she wasn't telling him everything.

"Well since it's the Rockets and in recent news reports there's been a high level of suspicion about them having members secretly in the police force, I guess it's out of the question to call the cops." Len stated wearily.

Kira nodded, she'd heard about that too. Often in crimes involving Team Rocket, calling the police only seemed to help the criminals so there was a big investigation about it at the moment.

They were both silent for a little while and Lenard watched as the men disappeared from the roof. He didn't see them come down into the street and could only hope that they hadn't seen where she'd run too. Maybe they'd given up for the night.

He pulled the tattered blind down over the window and flipped on the light as he walked over to the sink. Getting them a couple of glasses of water he settled himself on the floor across from Kira, disregarding the chairs completely.

He watched as she gratefully gulped down the cold liquid, her hands shaking less than they had been earlier.

He ran a hand through his dishevelled sandy hair nervously.

He liked Kira and everything, hell she was one of his best customers but he wasn't too thrilled she'd gotten him involved in all this. Messing with Team Rocket usually found you dead in a ditch somewhere and he liked his life, humble as it may be.

He looked over at the mostly forgotten electric type who was sitting with his ears drooped, looking like he wanted to be invisible.

"Hey there little guy. You okay?" He asked in a friendly tone. The Pichu looked up at him with wide eyes and nodded stiffly. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Lenard, the guy who's responsible for the piercings on your two friends."

The mouse seemed to relax a smidgen and replied in his little pokémon voice, but Len had to look to Kira for help, since he'd never learnt pokéspeak.

Kira dragged her eyes away from Bleak and set her glass on the floor beside her.

"Oh, right. This is Whiplash. I caught him a little while ago at the Academy when he was disrupting things there. He's pretty young but don't get on his bad side. His thundershock is really powerful."

Len nodded and held out a hand to the little creature.

Whiplash edged cautiously closer, his eyes darting to Kira, who nodded her trust of the man.

Once the pokémon was close enough, he rubbed him affectionately behind the ears and it was a change for Whiplash to have someone petting him in such a rough and carefree way. He stated his approval and rubbed against the guys hand contentedly.

Kira watched how easily Lenard interacted with her pokémon and felt a mild stab of jealousy. It had taken her a lot longer to work up the nerve to just touch the Pichu and even now she wasn't always entirely at ease with him.

"Well I guess we're stuck here for a while," Lenard said, stretching and causing is spine to pop faintly. "You hungry?"

Kira blushed slightly as her stomach growled in answer. "Eh… Yes?" She smiled meekly.

He chuckled and stood up, not complaining or even really reacting when Whiplash darted to his shoulder. "Pizza sound okay?" He asked, pulling one out of the little freezer. When she nodded he set about getting the oven ready and stuff.

After they'd eaten and Kira had managed to find a packet of pokémon food left over from lunch in her bag for Whiplash, they sat back on the chairs. Kira pulled the still sleeping houndour onto her lap, not wanting to leave him on the floor.

"Len… Thanks." She said sincerely, dropping her gaze.

"It was just pizza," he joked with a smile.

She smirked back at him, "You know what I mean. Thanks for everything. For not turning me away when I needed help. Most people would have told me to get lost and stop dragging them into my messes."

He smiled warmly at her and nodded. "It's no problem. I can't turn away a damsel in distress now can I? But seriously Kira… are you going to tell me what's really going on?"

She was quiet for a moment, thinking over how to reply. But she decided she owed him the full story and eventually gave him an edited version of what she'd told Bleak before. She cut out anything too emotional and just tried to tell it from a detached point of view.

Whiplash was also curious to hear this and slowly crept into her arms as she spoke.

When she was done Len felt sorry for her, but also sort of proud. The fact that she'd had such a rough start to life but had still done so well and put the effort in at school made him smile. She was still managing to chase her dream of pokémon training even though most in her situation would have probably spent their lives hiding from the world.

He was also amazed to hear she'd escaped from Team Rocket at all.

As much as he'd have liked to he didn't badger her with questions about it all. He knew that he wouldn't want to talk about it if the situation was reversed.

Bleak suddenly stirred on her lap and gave a small whimper. Len hurried to get him a bowl of water and Kira talked soothingly to him as he woke up. He felt disorientated and confused and his head was pounding, but he seemed okay. He greedily lapped up the water, finding himself really thirsty.

Kira filled him in on the situation as they knew it and Len scouted about for his phone. He found it under a pile of magazines and sat back down.

"You can crash here tonight if you want." He offered, "I don't really want you walking home now."

Kira accepted the offer gratefully, having been dreading the walk home. At least she felt kind of safe here for now.

He passed her the phone. "You might want to ring home and let them know about what's happening."

She did so and explained the situation to a mortified Louisa (the woman who ran the orphanage) who really wanted to phone the police. In the end Len took the phone and had a discussion with her, finally convincing her to let Kira stay without getting the police involved at all.

He also promised that he'd make sure to escort her home tomorrow but poor Louisa still sounded upset. She did worry about the children in her care, and Kira had been with her for a long time. They'd never really bonded but she'd hate for anything to happen to the girl.

Eventually she said goodnight to Kira and bid her be safe.

Kira was still shaken up by everything that had happened and looked exhausted, so Lenard suggested she get some sleep. He insisted she take his bed for the night and made himself comfy on the couch, saying he didn't want to move when she refused. He managed to convince her to take the bed finally and lay back against the cushions of the couch.

No matter what his efforts were tonight, he knew the Rockets would ultimately get hold of her. They knew where her school was, where she lived, everything. She'd either have to leave or hide somewhere unexpected… forever. Nope, there was very little he could do to help and walking her home tomorrow would feel like walking her right into a trap.

He sighed and wished he'd bought that growlithe puppy he'd been offered last year. As it was he didn't think he'd be sleeping much tonight.

* * *

_Whoo! I enjoyed writing that one. It's good to be feeling better!  
I had this written a few days after the last one but I couldn't upload it. It seems to be sorted now though, thank goodness. I was about to give up on it!_

_Thanks to anyone who's reading this and I hope this chapter makes up for the not-so-good one I did last time. And MorriganFearn, I brought Lenard back just for you. He's fun to write. :)_

Ooh! And ObsidianSpires, thank you so much for reviewing all the chapters like that! It really made me smile. :)

_**Please review!**_


End file.
